


Alone In The Dark

by guiltyaschanged



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Autumn, Bonding, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, Louie has a panic attack, Panic Attacks, Pre-Canon, Sibling Bonding, Spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27034807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guiltyaschanged/pseuds/guiltyaschanged
Summary: Huey, Dewey, and Louie go out to an abandoned house in the middle of the woods. Louie had wanted to prove he wouldn't be scared, but ends up panicking.
Kudos: 62





	Alone In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Here's a Louie centered story I thought of last weekend for the Fall. I hope you enjoy! :)

The shadowy trees gradually thinned out to reveal what they’d been looking for all along. An abandoned house, or more accurately a shack, in the middle of the woods.

Well, Dewey and Louie had known what they were looking for. They’d given Huey (and Uncle Donald) slightly different information. But come on, they had to. How else would they have gotten the oldest triplet to tag along on their spooky expedition? 

For Dewey, this was just another adventure. He was already pulsing with adrenaline at the mere sight of the structure.

For Louie, it was a chance to prove himself. It had been him who’d heard about this place first. Since it was universally known that Louie was often terrified of even the most miniscule things, he wanted to show his brothers that he could handle himself. 

“Um, yeah. This isn’t just a nature hike,” Huey sighed, glancing between Dewey and Louie. 

Dewey playfully punched him in the shoulder. “That would be boring! This will be so much cooler  _ and  _ scarier!”

“We told Uncle Donald we were going camping. Is your plan to sleep in there? It looks haunted,” Huey pointed out, surveying the rickety, ramshackle building. 

Yellow, red, and orange leaves dotted the dark ground. The aged wood of the little house almost perfectly blended in with the sparse autumn landscape. The twisting oaks and aspens were past their peaks, and preparing for winter. The pale blue sky, which looked drained of color, was gradually growing darker as more time passed. It would soon get even chillier as the sun dipped below the horizon. 

“It’ll be fine,” Louie reiterated, seeing Huey’s questioning look from the corner of his eyes. 

“Are you sure? Aren’t you usually scared of things like this?” the red triplet asked sympathetically. 

Louie’s heart rate sped up. “No, no! Everything will be perfectly fine, you worry too much, Hue. C’mon let’s set up camp!” he nervously rambled, tugging on his hoodie. 

Dewey and Louie ran towards the creepy house, leaving Huey behind. The oldest followed more slowly, taking out his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook from underneath his hat.

Huey absentmindedly flipped through the pages. “Have it your way,” he murmured. “But this probably won’t end well, and there’s no way I’m leaving you guys alone in the woods.”

Dewey shooed away his words while Louie began unrolling their three color-coded sleeping bags. The youngest triplet was desperately trying to calm himself down and smother his anxiety. The whole reason he’d done this was to get rid of those feelings, after all. And it was getting rather frustrating! 

Later on, the triplets decided to explore the presumably-haunted shack. It would seem almost counter intuitive for a mysterious building to be planted discreetly in the middle of the woods, and  _ not  _ be haunted. 

The boys’ explorations weren't in vain. Every few seconds an odd noise would sound from behind them, causing them all to jump and yelp in alarm. Unfortunately, there were no ghosts. It was only made more creepy considering everything inside and outside had gone dark. The moon was only a sliver tonight.

Huey had still had a flashlight turned on, although Dewey had insisted he put it away. 

“Turn that thing off. It’s Halloween time so this needs to be as creepy as possible, guys! Maximum spoooookiness,” the blue duckling had insisted.

Louie felt rather torn, as he often did, between the two differing opinions of his older brothers. On one hand, he really wanted to go along with Dewey. How was it so easy for him to be so fearless all the time?

Or perhaps more reckless, as Huey would say. 

But Louie definitely would feel better with a light on. Thankfully, Huey did too. The eldest triplet glared at Dewey.

“That’s not safe!” Huey lectured. “Junior Woodchuck Rule #10 states that you should always have some sort of light source with you when navigating in the dark.”

Dewey dramatically sighed. “Fiiiiine.” And he would’ve kept the world’s longest exhale going had he not yawned so abruptly that it basically shook the whole house. 

“Maybe we should go to sleep,” Louie suggested, although he wasn’t tired at all. He was incredibly on edge. 

Still, Huey and Dewey agreed, and soon they were all snuggling into their sleeping bags, packed together like sardines. 

Louie was astounded at how quickly his brothers fell asleep. He had never fallen asleep quickly anyways, but now it was especially hard. He had to listen to the sharp October winds whistle through the broken windows and bash against the thin walls. 

Why was this so hard for him? All Louie had wanted to do was prove he wasn’t a coward. But all tonight seemed to be doing was cement his fears more and more. 

As the green duckling laid there, still wide awake, his mouth began to grow dry. Then, he had the worst realization you could possibly get in the middle of the woods; he needed to relieve himself.

Louie uneasily sat up, his stomach swirling uncomfortably. He squinted, trying to make out Huey and Dewey, but it was nearly impossible to see anything. 

After a few seconds, Louie finally determined which shape was Huey, and gently shook him awake. 

“Huey,” he whispered, so as not to wake Dewey, who was a very light sleeper. 

Huey blearily squinted at Louie. “What’s wrong?” he asked hoarsely. 

“I’ve gotta go to the bathroom.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Louie hesitated for a moment. “No, you stay with Dewey. I’ll be quick. I just wanted to let you know where I was going.”

Huey blinked at him. “If you insist,” he sighed, then handed Louie his flashlight. “But bring this with you.”

Louie stiffly nodded, clicking the flashlight on. He turned away from his brothers and proceeded to walk out into the seemingly eternal darkness, completely alone.

Louie quickly found a spot to go do his business, not too far away from the abandoned house. Suddenly, as he was making his back, he heard a loud rustling noise from right behind him.

The sound scared the green duckling so much that he jumped in the air and dropped his flashlight. In one swift moment, his only light went out, and he was left in total darkness.

Louie began breathing heavily as he whipped around, trying to remember the direction he’d come from. He felt blind. He couldn’t even see his own hand in front of him. 

As his heart began to thrash in his chest, Louie glanced up at the sky, feeling his eyes tear up. The sky was equally as black as everything around him. When he squinted, he could see the small sliver of the moon tauntingly watching him. Of course, the moon would be no help to him in its current state.

Louie was trembling and fully hyperventilating now. He randomly picked a direction and started walking, hoping it would bring him back to his brothers.

The only things that told him he still existed was the crunch of the leaves as he walked across them and the smooth bark of the trees he occasionally felt.

Louie couldn’t lie to himself any longer. He was panicking, and he was no more equipped for bravery then when they’d first arrived.

It was all so stupid - Louie was stupid to think he could’ve erased his fears. He felt his throat and chest constrict as he fell to the ground, oddly hot despite the autumn cold.

Louie had hoped thinking of his family would bring him some comfort, but it only did the opposite. 

If he was Huey, he would’ve had the nerd knowledge to navigate the woods. If he was Dewey, he would’ve simply seen this as a fun adventure and not even be bothered. And if he was Uncle Donald he wouldn’t be scared.

Because adults never got scared of dumb things like this, Louie knew. 

Even though everything around him was dark, the hooded duckling still squeezed his eyes shut, clutching his head. He didn’t even realize he was yelling for Huey and Dewey.

For what felt like an eternity, Louie sat there, shaking and trapped inside his own fear. Perhaps he could’ve done something differently a few minutes ago to change the entire outcome. He could have made different choices. Maybe the first one could’ve been to not even come to this place. 

His heart still didn’t cease it’s pounding when flashes of white light cut across his vision.

“Louie? Louie!” warped voices were calling. 

Louie opened his eyes, realizing he could actually  _ see _ . Huey and Dewey were running towards him, flashlights in hand.

“G-g-guys,” he stammered, thankful that his heart rate was somewhat slowing down. Despite his relief, he still felt like he was being entombed alive by his own paralyzing panic.

“Louie, it’s okay. We’re here now,” Huey said softly as Dewey rubbed the youngest triplet’s back.

“It was so dark,” Louie choked out. “And I was scared. I didn’t want to be scared.”

“But you were so excited to come here earlier. You were the one who found it in the first place,” Dewey looked somewhat dumbfounded. 

“I know, I’m sorry. I lied to you guys, and Uncle Donald, and myself. I just wanted to prove that I could do something like this and not get scared. But of course I did,” Louie sighed. The tight feeling inside of him had gone away, so he was calmed down for the most part.

Huey and Dewey exchanged glances, then pulled their youngest brother into a big hug. 

“There’s nothing wrong with being scared. We all get scared,” Huey reassured him.

“Yeah, and either way, we’ll always be here for you when you need us,” Dewey added. “That’s what big brothers are for.”

Louie smiled, feeling much more relaxed. It was true, his brothers would always be there for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Personally, I've never experienced a full blown panic attack, but I tried my best to write it accurately.  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
